Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

[W J Pearce]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

Three Precious Metals but all different aircraft and powered with different engines.

Precious Metal (Merlin) - Whittington Bros' P-51D as Big_Jim states.

Precious Metal (Griffon) - Whittington Bros' misc. parts, not a true P-51D with a Griffon engine. Later sold to Buccarelli and now sold to Richards.

Precious Metal II (Allison) - Gerry Beck's scratch-built P-51A that was named PMII for the Thunder Over Reno movie. This is the aircraft that crashed at Oshkosh sadly killing Beck. Not related to the other aircraft or the Whittingtons in any way.

[planecrazy2]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

Best racing news all year. May the new owner find another 50mph in the old bird and kick some ass.

Cheers, see you in September.

[kiwiracefan]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

Three Precious Metals but all different aircraft and powered with different engines.

Precious Metal (Merlin) - Whittington Bros' P-51D as Big_Jim states.

Precious Metal (Griffon) - Whittington Bros' misc. parts, not a true P-51D with a Griffon engine. Later sold to Buccarelli and now sold to Richards.

Precious Metal II (Allison) - Gerry Beck's scratch-built P-51A that was named PMII for the Thunder Over Reno movie. This is the aircraft that crashed at Oshkosh sadly killing Beck. Not related to the other aircraft or the Whittingtons in any way.

The racing canopy on the D model looks super slick.. must have been tough to look out the front of

[440_Magnum]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

The Griffon-powered Precious Metal.

Looks more like an egg-beater to me...

[Big_Jim]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

The racing canopy on the D model looks super slick.. must have been tough to look out the front of

That canopy was custom-pulled in 1981. Whittington ran it in 81 and 83. Wiley Sanders bought it and ran it on Georgia Mae in 85 and 86. Mickey Rupp bought it for Samurai in 93 but never ran it. Rheinschild had it on Risky Business in 94 and 98.

Just about every pilot who flew with it agreed that the visibility was horrible.

Looked cool, though.

[laminar]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

So, who is the new owner/pilot? Will they parade the plane or develop it into a racer the way Ron had planned? Will we see it at PRS?
That's enough. No more questions. I'm just gonna be grateful for someone willng to spend the bucks and put on a show.

Congrats to Thom!

I am sure he won't be happy to "parade it".

Elliot
Race 68

[Sneauxman]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

Well Elliot, what about Gary Nixon hot rodding a Griffon and blending the best combo of blower and gears, Kerch leading a team to hundreds of 1/10th of a mph aero tweaks and a bottomless Dago Red type budget? That's probably what it would take to get that elusive 50mph and more to be a gold front runner.

A girl can only dream.

[t-dub]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

Well Elliot, what about Gary Nixon hot rodding a Griffon and blending the best combo of blower and gears, Kerch leading a team to hundreds of 1/10th of a mph aero tweaks and a bottomless Dago Red type budget? That's probably what it would take to get that elusive 50mph and more to be a gold front runner.

A girl can only dream.

Although that's not going to happen, it would be cool to see! I'm just happy to have PM turning the sticks once again. And the sound of that Griffon............OH YEAH!.........

[Race 29]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

I agree with T-dub. The sound of that Griffon is awesome! I do think that some more speed can be pulled out of PM with some cleaning up of the aerodynamics. Put a better canopy, a smaller scoop, and put her on a diet, I believe she can be a regular gold runner! I don't know if she'll ever run with the Strega's, Voodoo's, Bear's and Dago's, but she might beat a Yak!! Honestly, I've always been a fan of Precious Metal. I'm really happy she's making a comeback!!

Race 29

[Randy Haskin]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

Put a better canopy, a smaller scoop, and put her on a diet, I believe she can be a regular gold runner!

It's just as easy as that, eh? "Simple" modifications.

[WARPT]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

I agree with T-dub. The sound of that Griffon is awesome! I do think that some more speed can be pulled out of PM with some cleaning up of the aerodynamics. Put a better canopy, a smaller scoop, and put her on a diet, I believe she can be a regular gold runner! I don't know if she'll ever run with the Strega's, Voodoo's, Bear's and Dago's, but she might beat a Yak!! Honestly, I've always been a fan of Precious Metal. I'm really happy she's making a comeback!!

Race 29

A better canopy?!?!?!

[Big_Jim]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

A better canopy?!?!?!

I agree with the first comment...that hinged canopy is never good. You can't open it in flight, you can only jettison it. Leeward has the same issue now that he is using the old Foxy Lady/Sumthin Else canopy.

[Spotlander]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

Smoke signals indicate a new owner for the Whittington Sausage Grinder? Veteran Jet Class racer intends to race her? No TF-status this time.

Things may be looking up for this year.

I stumbled upon this post after researching details on the Thunder Over Reno movie.

By now, i am pretty sure you know much more about Precious Metal's 2011-2015 Air Racing career and the challenges she has posed to Thom Richard during his stewardship of her thus far. I found this very inspiring interview done by FSX Airsports of Thom Richard and his Dream to win the Reno Air Races, and some of the research and development (the scimitar blade profile on the contra-rotating propeller) he and his crew have done on his Unlimited Class Air Racer. It is a thrill to belong to his Team! We begin PM's rebuild this weekend!

http://www.fsxairsports.com/ncar/sto...dinterview.mp3

[Warbird5]

Re: Hmmmm.....sausage, anyone?

Smoke signals indicate a new owner for the Whittington Sausage Grinder? Veteran Jet Class racer intends to race her? No TF-status this time.

Things may be looking up for this year.

......